Passing Ships
by The Room Stops
Summary: "Hasta el próximo encuentro, Will." She stood on her tip-toes and kissed him softly.


"Did you have sex with April Rhodes?" Emma asked bluntly. Will looked up from his stack of papers and looked surprised.

"What?"

"Sue told me that April spent the night at your house. I was wondering if that's... if all she did was sleep."

Will wasn't sure how to respond. Memories flooded his mind.

April had shown up at his doorstep at 11PM, overnight bag in hand and a seductive smile on her face. Not seductive by intent, just by nature. He'd gotten promises that she would stay on the couch all night, as he would in his bed. 10 minutes after kissing her forehead to say goodnight, he'd heard soft steps nearing the bedroom.

_April stood there, tears starting to form in her eyes and her lip quivering. No words needed to be said. He closed his eyes and smiled. His head fell to the side and she smiled back. April walked slowly towards the empty side of the bed and climbed in. For 20 minutes, Will lay awake and listened to April breathe. Soft, slow, steady. He heard soft, strangled sobs in between easy breaths and his heart broke. This woman beside him, who owned a crowded room from her place on the stage, who seemed unbeatable when she set her mind to it… now lay beside him, shaking like a lost little girl._

_He rolled over on his side, gently taking her hand in his. His eyes found hers and with quiet understanding, she let him wrap his arms around her. His left hand found its way under her, soft and comforting, his right resting on her hip. She let her hand fall around him, squeezing him closer to her._

"_I hate sleeping alone." She whispered, her breath hot on his chest._

"_I'm here." He whispered in her ear. He felt oddly safe in that moment, comfortable listening to another person falling gradually asleep. He closed his eyes, a smile resting on his lips._

Will looked at Emma's face, her eyes begging for an answer.

_He'd woken up that morning with two bruises and a sore leg, but as he looked at the blonde beside him, he didn't care about any of it. He kissed her cheek and walked into the bathroom._

_As he walked into the classroom, the group of Glee members gathered in a circle surprised him. They were whispering quite loudly as Will dropped his books on the piano. Simultaneously they all turned to look at him, and it was then that he saw the blonde he'd woken up next to that morning._

"_April, what are you doing here?" He took her hand and pulled her aside. The group heard Mike whistling outside and sought him out. Alone at last._

"_I'm rich, Will!" It wasn't what he was expecting her to say._

"_I don't know what to say." He tried to pay attention to what she was saying, but the way her eyes shone with pride, her hair falling around her shoulders as if it was woven by angels distracted him._

_His heart filled with pride for her for standing up for herself._

"_And I've got you to thank."_

"_Did you tell him yet?" Rachel practically squealed behind them. April told him with pride that the auditorium he'd fought for, for his kids and for himself, was his to use. His own. He was speechless. He looked into her eyes and searched for an explanation, but all he found was truth. Big, blue/green eyes staring back at him with kindness._

_As Rachel and Kurt led him to the middle of the auditorium, he felt his stomach turn with excitement. Curious as to what was going on. He waited for 10 minutes in the dark, when the scene lights turned and Jesse stepped out. "Are you ready?"_

"_Ready for what?" Jesse snuck behind the curtain and he heard soft tunes begin to play. The clickety-click sound of high heels disturbed the calm and he looked towards the left part of the stage. There she was. Quiet, determined and more beautiful than he'd ever seen her before. If he let his mind wander he could easily imagine the auditorium to be the church two houses down and her white dress with a matching veil. _

_He was shaken out of his thoughts by the sound of her voice. "When I think of home…" April sang as her eyes focused on him. He couldn't breathe. He felt like he was back in time, 18 years ago, watching her mesmerize an audience of 4000 the year McKinley High had won the national championship. Her voice was still crystal clear, her eyes still the color of the sea, but her words seemed different. He'd heard her sing the words all those years ago, but they felt more true now._

_She remembered. Maybe she didn't remember the curly haired boy in row 26, left side of the orchestra section, but he wanted to believe that. He sat down, his knees shaking and he smile at her from his seat. She smiled back as she began the final bars of the song. Tears began to form in his eyes, as he felt his heart well with memories and pride. He knew she'd make it this time._

_He supposed it was a sign that it was pouring down when they ran to his car. April stood outside for a moment, letting the rain drench her. He saw the look on her face and smiled._

_He walked into the door of his home, he held the door open for her to walk in. She dropped her bag on the floor and let him take his jacket off of her. She walked into the living room and turned to look at him. He took in the sight of her, the white dress still clinging to her body from the rain._

"_You're not the only one who remembers things Will. I remember too. You were the only one who didn't applaud. I liked that. I guess wanted it to mean that I had touched your soul."_

"_You did."_

"_You didn't applaud tonight either."_

"_No, I didn't." He walked closer to her._

"_I should get out of the dress." She whispered. "I have some clothes in my bag." She walked past him, as her grabbed her wrist. He pressed his body against hers, pinning her between himself and the living room wall._

"_Thanks for the song."_

"_Thanks for my life."_

"_What did you drink before you went onstage?"_

"_Coke."_

"_With?"_

"_Ice."_

"_No alcohol? No rum?" She shook her head gently, her eyes pierced on him. His right hand snuck around her, finding the zipper on the dress, pulling it down – his eyes on hers as he breathed heavily._

"_Any thoughts?"_

"_We're gonna get sick if we stay in these wet clothes for even a second longer." He chuckled and looked down at his own drenched clothing. He moved his hands to unbutton his shirt, letting her unzipped dress fall to the floor. He undid the clips holding her hair up, letting it fall down, wet, on her shoulders. He took her hand, pulling her along as he walked to the bathroom. He turned the shower, letting it heat up. He unzipped his pants, removed his socks and laid his watch on the edge of the sink._

_He turned to look at her again, an admiring smile on her lips. "Just one more thing." She lifted the elastic of his boxers, sliding them down as her eyes stayed on him. He felt himself getting nervous. This was his teenage fantasy come true. Maybe not the bathroom, maybe not like this, but with the same girl and the same butterflies in his stomach._

_He stepped into the bathtub, holding his hand out for her to take. She smiled and turned around to face the running water. Letting the water hit her face, she moaned. He stepped closer to the warm water, letting it him as he lifted her hair from her shoulders and kissed the back of her neck. He wrapped his arms around her tiny frame and stepped closer. Though afraid to let her feel how increasingly turned on he was, he leaned into her as he reached for the shampoo his wife had left when she moved out. Moving her out of the way of the water, he massaged the liquid gently into her hair. She leaned her head back and leaned down to kiss her neck again. She smelled like honey. He moved slowly upwards until he reached her lips. Tentatively, he kissed them. She turned in his arms, lips still meeting his and wrapped her arms around his middle._

_Her fingers gripped tightly around his arms. She stepped away, breaking the kiss, breathing heavily. Her eyes looked a mix of desire and confusion. He used his hands to run through her hair, making sure he'd gotten all traces of shampoo out._

"_Still cold?" She asked, and he shook his head. Definitely not cold._

_She kissed him again. Slowly. Again and again. Sometimes breaking to breathe, sometimes to kiss his jaw but every time with a feeling of desperation. Even with his eyes closed, Will could see her clearly in front of him. For Will, it seemed like seconds, but according to his watch it had been 10 minutes when she pulled away from him. "We should get out. The water's getting cold."_

"_I didn't notice." He turned the shower off and reached for a towel in the closet nearby. Stepping out of the tub, holding out his hand for hers, he quickly wrapped the biggest one around her. He used his hands to remove the remaining water in her hair. He leaned down to kiss her again, tenderly._

_He wrapped a towel around his middle and smiled at her. "Hungry?"_

"_Starving actually."_

"_I have left-over pizza. They gave me a wrong delivery so I have enough for two."_

_He sat on the couch, feet on the table in front of him, watching her. April smiled whenever she caught his glance and continued to eat._

"_How can you eat like that and still look like __**that**__? That's your 6__th__ slice."_

"_Wouldn't you like to know? You don't look so bad yourself, Will Schuester."_

"_I work out."_

"_I can tell." She winked flirtatiously. He took the cold pizza slice from her hand and leaned in to kiss her. She tasted of pepperoni and bacon, but he didn't care. The blanket covering her slid down and he reached down to grab it when her hand stopped him. "I think we've prolonged this long enough, don't you?" She smiled, almost innocently._

_Will sat up, but before he could move, she was straddling his lap. The towel covered most parts of her, but the smell of honey off her skin made him dizzy. She kissed him, pushing him against the back of the couch, her knees digging into the soft fabric underneath him. She pulled back, running her fingers through his hair. Her hands moved to the towel covering her body and she tugged gently, letting it fall apart. He kissed her again, hard and brutal this time, biting her lip until he heard her moan. She pulled away, her lip starting to swell, her hair covering her face, her breath ragged. He leaned forward again, using his upper strength to stand up, putting his arm around her as she clung to him. He almost hit the table, walking on unsteady feet as her hands roamed everywhere. It was hard to concentrate with her teeth scraping his neck._

_When he finally stood against the bed, he sat her down on the floor, steadying her as she stood on her own feet. He took a moment to stare at her face, noticing that even with all traces of make up gone she still looked like nothing he'd ever seen before._

"_What?" She asked._

"_Nothing." He smiled. He felt her hands roaming against his back again, and felt a light breeze from the open window hit his legs when she let the towel covering him fall to the floor._

_He wrapped his arms around her again, falling back against the bed as she giggled. He pushed the hair away from her face, still a little wet, and with his hand on her neck, guided her lips towards his._

_He didn't know how they had escaped ending up on the floor, the entire time spent playing a desperate, lust-filled game of being the one in charge. She had won when she'd locked his hands against the mattress, using her body to trap him. Physically he could easily take her, but the look of pure desire on her face had won him over. He leaned up to kiss her again as she began to rock slowly, then faster, against him. She worked them into a frenzy until she stopped. He gave her a look of desperation, knowing he was close, but she smiled seductively as she stayed still. _

"_Just trust me."_

_She leaned down to kiss his face, sweat forming on her forehead, and continued to leave trails of kisses down the upper length of his body. She laced her fingers with his, he felt himself calming down. She pulled him up, kissing him once more before she crashed down on him again. She released his hands, touching his chest before wrapping her arms around him. He felt her nails scraping against his skin, gently at first, then more determined. He knew then that she knew exactly what she was doing and he gave in._

_The mix of pleasure and pain was too much. He heard her breathe heavily as she got closer. She bit into his shoulder when she came, panting, her warm breath tickling against the wet skin. She tried to catch her breath as he rocked against her. He was so close, yet so far away he wanted to kill someone. She bit his jaw, biting gently down his neck, her hand resting on his forehead as he finally, finally, exploded. He felt all the oxygen leave his head momentarily, as if he couldn't breathe at all. Until she kissed him again, quietly whispering his name in his ear._

_He sat there for minutes, just letting the waves of emotion and exhaustion crash over him. When he realized she was shivering, he unwrapped his arms from around her, leaning over her as she lay down on the bed. He kissed her tenderly, repeatedly. He doesn't remember how he fell asleep with his heart beating so fast, but he remember waking up, seeing the marks on her neck and face. Marks he'd made. He kissed her arm gently, waiting for her to open her eyes. She stirred and whispered; "Good morning."_

"_Great morning. I have the morning off, do you wanna stay for a while?"_

"_I can't. My plane to New York leaves…" She turned to look at the clock. "In two hours."_

"_Airport's only 15 minutes away."_

"_I wish I could stay." She kissed him. For a moment, he became acutely aware that his breath stunk of pepperoni and sleep, but when she didn't break away, he decided he didn't care._

"_I'll go make some coffee."_

_When she appeared in the doorway, looking every bit the star she was destined to become, he pointed to the coffee cup on the other side of the table and she sat down. They sat in a comfortable silence as he read the newspaper and she checked her messages. They rode in the same comfortable silence in his car as he drove her to the airport. She checked her bags and took a deep breath before turning to face him._

"_Thank you." She leaned up to kiss his cheek, holding her purse awkwardly._

"_You don't have to keep thanking me, April. Besides a few bruises from you kicking me two nights ago, I'm fine."_

"_You saved my life, Will. I was gonna waste it, in this town that wasn't enough before, drunk. Just let it pass by. And you saved me."_

"_I think ours is the kind of love affair that's not written about in the history books. Guy saves girl, but she walks away in the end?"_

"_So don't go away."_

"_I'm not going away, I'm just living somewhere else. You're not ready for this, Will, for me. You're not ready. I wish you were, but you're not. We're like two ships passing in the night. Maybe in two months we'll find ourselves on the same coast again, but for now, I have to do this. For both of us." She walked towards the door._

"_So what was last night? For us, I mean." She stopped at the sound of his voice, and turned. Her head tipped to the side as tears formed in her eyes._

"_Time out of time. __Hasta el_ _próximo_ _encuentro_, Will_" She stood on her tip-toes and kissed him softly._

"_Until we meet again."_

Coming out of his reverie, he realized Emma was still staring and he watched the clock on the wall. Only 10 seconds had passed. How could the 24 hours that changed your life be remembered in only 10 seconds?

"No, I didn't have sex with April." He said, forcing a smile after seeing the relief on her face.

He lied.

**Love waits for one thing – the right moment.**


End file.
